- May 3, 2016
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Hello! I have a Salmon Faverolles pullet, about 5.5 months old. Her pen mate started pecking at her about a week ago. This was mostly over food (treats actually) but is not how she behaved previously so I've been keeping an eye on her. Saturday I noticed she seems to have some trouble breathing. I can hear a clicking noise, either in her lungs or throat, i'm not sure which, when she breathes hard. It looks like she may have scratched out some feathers around her throat, close to the beak if that's possible (maybe she's just still getting new grown up feathers?)
She has been a bit sleepy, but otherwise bright and interested. merps at me when I talk to her. still eating and drinking and poop looks normal. I don't feel any abnormalities in her crop. She breathes fine for a bit, then hard for a few breaths...if she gets more active she breathes harder for a longer period. Her tail is slightly droopy, but not totally down & she has never carried it high. She does shake her head a little more than my other birds, but she always has shaken it a bit more, so i'm not sure there's any increase. I wondered if that was related to her beard fluff being up around her eyes...
I have seen & heard her sneeze a couple of times today, but there is no discharge from nostrils or eyes.
She eats pretty well, but not as much as I think she probably needs to. raisins and cracked corn for a treat were well-received last night, but she acted like the crumbles were too hard to swallow. This morning she has eaten some crumbles down and was happy to have them.
there are 9 birds total - 7 chickens and 2 ducks. no one else is showing even the slightest sign of illness, but this girl has always been a little more delicate/sensitive (though not truly sick!).
I can find all sorts of postings about respiratory things, but nothing that quite matches this. I got some vet RX and put a little in her upper beak last night. I didn't notice a huge difference, but it didn't seem to hurt.
I decided to worm her in case that was a problem - she never has been. There haven't been domestic birds on this property in at least 25 years, and I don't think ever. They are penned under trees, so there are lots of fallen leaves & pine needles in there. I used SafeGuard paste (as the goat liquid wasn't available in the closest store). I found dosing on here so I could give a proper amount per weight. It sounded like that should cover a wide range of worms chickens can have - like anything Wazine would cover plus more? It also sounded like it would kill gape worms if that was her problem. It doesn't sound like this is so common in chickens, and she doesn't look quite like the birds in the videos online when she's breathing. no squeeky noise or anything. just the clicking. I did save some of the pre-wormer poop so i could get it tested somewhere if that seems helpful. Would there be a better all-around general wormer to use on chickens? I have mostly planned to move their pen regularly to help reduce getting worms.
It was a very dry summer, but we've had a good amount of rain in the fall. It is currently quite dry and the leaves in the pen are not wet. I read about fungus and bacteria that the chickens can get, but I'm not sure what symptoms exactly to look for. I looked up fungal stuff, but that doesn't seem to match. her bedding has been dry (it's pine shavings). She has been out in the rain a couple of times, but she has a roof to get out of it... I also don't want to go crazy with antibiotics unless there's a specific reason I should. Is there a bacterial or fungal problem that would present with no eye or nose involvement?
Do chickens get plain old 'colds' they can have and get over? is there a negative to continuing to use the vet RX, based on it aggravating possible illnesses? How likely, really, would gapeworms be - we do have wild birds, but they don't especially frequent the area where the chickens are penned. It also is not a high-slug zone, and this year was not a big slug year because of the dry weather.
Thanks for any ideas you have, and if there are more things I should look for to determine what she has just let me know. she's sleeping in a crate in the garage, and hanging in the yard, separated from the others but nearby because a) I only have an acre and true separation if it's a crazy respiratory thing doesn't really seem possible. b) she was happier when she could hang beside her hatch-mates. and c) she's been with them right along already, so if they're going to catch something i think they already would have gotten it?
Sorry this is so long!
She has been a bit sleepy, but otherwise bright and interested. merps at me when I talk to her. still eating and drinking and poop looks normal. I don't feel any abnormalities in her crop. She breathes fine for a bit, then hard for a few breaths...if she gets more active she breathes harder for a longer period. Her tail is slightly droopy, but not totally down & she has never carried it high. She does shake her head a little more than my other birds, but she always has shaken it a bit more, so i'm not sure there's any increase. I wondered if that was related to her beard fluff being up around her eyes...
I have seen & heard her sneeze a couple of times today, but there is no discharge from nostrils or eyes.
She eats pretty well, but not as much as I think she probably needs to. raisins and cracked corn for a treat were well-received last night, but she acted like the crumbles were too hard to swallow. This morning she has eaten some crumbles down and was happy to have them.
there are 9 birds total - 7 chickens and 2 ducks. no one else is showing even the slightest sign of illness, but this girl has always been a little more delicate/sensitive (though not truly sick!).
I can find all sorts of postings about respiratory things, but nothing that quite matches this. I got some vet RX and put a little in her upper beak last night. I didn't notice a huge difference, but it didn't seem to hurt.
I decided to worm her in case that was a problem - she never has been. There haven't been domestic birds on this property in at least 25 years, and I don't think ever. They are penned under trees, so there are lots of fallen leaves & pine needles in there. I used SafeGuard paste (as the goat liquid wasn't available in the closest store). I found dosing on here so I could give a proper amount per weight. It sounded like that should cover a wide range of worms chickens can have - like anything Wazine would cover plus more? It also sounded like it would kill gape worms if that was her problem. It doesn't sound like this is so common in chickens, and she doesn't look quite like the birds in the videos online when she's breathing. no squeeky noise or anything. just the clicking. I did save some of the pre-wormer poop so i could get it tested somewhere if that seems helpful. Would there be a better all-around general wormer to use on chickens? I have mostly planned to move their pen regularly to help reduce getting worms.
It was a very dry summer, but we've had a good amount of rain in the fall. It is currently quite dry and the leaves in the pen are not wet. I read about fungus and bacteria that the chickens can get, but I'm not sure what symptoms exactly to look for. I looked up fungal stuff, but that doesn't seem to match. her bedding has been dry (it's pine shavings). She has been out in the rain a couple of times, but she has a roof to get out of it... I also don't want to go crazy with antibiotics unless there's a specific reason I should. Is there a bacterial or fungal problem that would present with no eye or nose involvement?
Do chickens get plain old 'colds' they can have and get over? is there a negative to continuing to use the vet RX, based on it aggravating possible illnesses? How likely, really, would gapeworms be - we do have wild birds, but they don't especially frequent the area where the chickens are penned. It also is not a high-slug zone, and this year was not a big slug year because of the dry weather.
Thanks for any ideas you have, and if there are more things I should look for to determine what she has just let me know. she's sleeping in a crate in the garage, and hanging in the yard, separated from the others but nearby because a) I only have an acre and true separation if it's a crazy respiratory thing doesn't really seem possible. b) she was happier when she could hang beside her hatch-mates. and c) she's been with them right along already, so if they're going to catch something i think they already would have gotten it?
Sorry this is so long!